Is it time for porn to retire the "Money Shot"?

Go through decades of porn and most XXX scenes have at least one thing in common: the "Money Shot". Adult entertainment studios have even released hundreds of "Cumpilation" videos, cutting out the sex scenes and highlighting the rashes. Seasoned artists have the Money Shot reduced to an art form, tilting their heads far enough back to see it coming, but close enough to look impatient (after all, no one wants the dreaded "cum dodger" label) without having their eyes glued to it. As the porn market has shifted from DVDs to online clips, the traditional money shot may be losing its relevance. Perhaps its popularity is driven more by distribution methods than by real desire.

64% of men and 42% of women said their preferences were influenced by pornography, according to a study on ejaculation habits. Although men and women almost equally recognize the strong presence of facial ejaculation in pornography, half of the men believe that women don't like facial ejaculation, while more than a third of the women surveyed think men prefer it. Watch enough porn and it's easy to believe that everyone likes a "facial" blast, but it's a distorted reality. It turns out that only 12 % of women are interested in it, while more than 40 % of the men surveyed prefer to blow a woman's face off.

In an effort to dispel this false sense of common desire, Dr. Ruth, a world-renowned sex therapist, said, "Explaining to teens that 'facials' are not the norm is as important as telling them how babies are born.

Even porn producers are getting tired of the fun. Last week, veteran porn director/producer Mike Quasar posted on Twitter, "Dear porn editors: Eliminate the part where the man jerks off for 45 minutes to cum on a woman's face. Thank you in advance. Sincerely, everyone who watches porn."

Adult film critic Roger Pipe of RogReviews agrees wholeheartedly: "On behalf of all of us who watch this medium for a living (or just for a hobby), I endorse this message. Hell, I double and triple endorse this message. "

So, is it time to rethink the old standard and withdraw from the Money Shot?

Actress Carmen Valentina is reluctant to give up the signature: "There's still a big fan market, even though it's not as popular as it used to be. I think more guys like Cream pie. However, directors can't cum on them as often because a lot of the girls I know in the business aren't on contraception, so the director has to cum on her face, breasts or ass to signify the end of the scene," says Valentina.

Although many players agree that there is still a market for the Money Shot, it is no longer considered essential for every scene.

"I think the pop plan is still relevant for some movies, but not necessary for all," says adult actress Tasha Reign. As the demands for content for adult entertainment change, adherence to old standards makes little sense. "You have to keep up with the times," says Reign. "If your audience wants more candid video and you can shoot and download it without the middleman, do it."

Reign says she "learned the hard way" and was forced to rethink her business model after talking about several incidents on set, including one where Stormy Daniels allegedly mishandled an on-set assault: "I was sexually assaulted by a member of her crew. He grabbed me and grabbed me from behind... And she didn't handle the situation properly, respectfully or professionally," Reign told The Daily Beast.

Catering on social media platforms and creating custom content has become a more efficient and lucrative business model for Reign, as well as a safer space that it can control as opposed to traditional porn sites. As Reign points out, "There is always an audience that wants hit sites, but there is a new, younger, larger audience that wants to get to know you personally and they want their porn on their phones or social media.

Platforms have become increasingly vital in the adult industry, impacting the content available and presented while appearing transparent by providing detailed site research and metrics. The feedback loop is evident as popular search terms are quickly becoming the new pornography trend. While Eric John, CEO of Erotique Entertainment, believes that the style of its content has remained constant over the past decade, the way it markets and labels its clips has been affected by distribution platforms: "Since 2010, I've been taking my show live and editing it, now I'm shooting in 4K and between a thirty-minute 4K edit and a sixty-minute 4K edit. I could say thirty minutes is better artistically, but sixty minutes is better on sites," says John.

Distribution platforms (i.e., hit sites) often influence more than the length of time and in some cases reinforce traditional pornography standards, such as financial exposure. The platforms are all about you about certain things that allow you to be featured, and being featured makes a big difference financially," says John. They deleted videos without Money Shot and didn't say anything. They thought it was a mistake, I was furious. John recalls writing a letter to the company, pointing out the sensitivities of the different types of scenes and explaining why a traditional sperm picture was not relevant in each video.

Over the past three years, John has developed Erotique Entertainment, branching out into the increasingly lucrative fetish market with a hit series featuring the high heels, legs and feet of mystery models (many of whom never show their faces). It's almost impossible to get a platform to show these videos, he says, partly because of their non-traditional nature. Fetish clips don't always logically lend themselves to a pop shot. That doesn't necessarily mean the next thing in the scene is sperm. What I've found is that the platforms I have to market on give me a lot of shit if there's no ejaculation," says John. "I'm trying to make it appealing, but I don't want to be compelled by that."